To Wake Up A Numb Heart
by Odradem
Summary: Flame Princess's heart is dying, its energy is fading away. There's only one chance to save her: traveling into a dangerous and merciless land. Finn offers himself to this task as the hero he is. But, what if a hero is not enough for this task? And what happens when, at the same time, the land of Ooo faces a powerful danger?
1. Old Beats

_The hero. Always a figure worth of respect and admiration. The hero is in contact with the divine will, the hero acts in accordance with the ethic. The hero doesn't question, the hero acts based on the rules that protect the well being of the society, and the society pays. The hero is put almost at the level of the gods, the hero receives reconnaissance, the hero receives any kind of prizes from the grateful society._

_That's why the hero is corruptible. What happens when the hero, with an inflated ego, acts without receiving reward? The hero could become the villain in a sudden strike of rage. The legend ends, the infamy is born. That's why the hero can't realize every task that demands sacrifice and strength. Another kind of warrior is needed for those tasks that demands something else than just the pleasure of defeating evil, watch for the ethics and the desire of rewards after every mission._

_What is needed when the hero is not needed?_

_M.R.M_

* * *

**_For Sunchi_**

* * *

The Fire Kingdom.

The formerly reign of evil, pride, lies and Shakespeare had turned into a land of light, smiles, future and honesty. Everything, thanks to the New Flame King, whose policy had made the kingdom bright with a new righteous light.

Even after her bad experiences, even when the only person she could trust betrayed her, she found the force to canalize her anger and her strength in something useful and more powerful than just a blind revenge (she wouldn't lie herself: in the middle of her confusion that idea crossed by her mind; it lived a couple of seconds nevertheless and she didn't bring it back). She wouldn't let anyone else to suffer in the way she did; she wouldn't let anyone else's life to be consumed by lies.

As she talked to the children in the kinder garden about the advantages of honesty over lies, good over evil, love over pride… she couldn't avoid thinking about the source of her knowledge about that. She couldn't avoid the memories about the lessons of righteousness she received and, along with those memories, the ones about dates and plays and hugs and…

She zoned out for just a second. Then, shrugged it off. There was no time for that. Responsibilities were first. Besides, as far as she knew, past wasn't an option. Everything she had was the present and the future she was building.

Even when six years were behind her power, she needed to reassure it every year. And teaching by herself her policy to the children was the best way to do it. In their young and fertile minds she was planting the seeds for a better future, the seeds for a better life; better than hers.

* * *

"Princess, are you okay?"

"Er… wha…? Yeah. I'm okay" responded the ruler of the fiery domains, "Why do you ask that, Cinnamon Bun?"

The King and her closest assistant were heading back to the castle, walking in the streets between the citizens. The King didn't like the idea of being hid from her servants. She wanted to be as close as it was possible to her people. That would mark a difference with her father's physical and non-physical distance.

"You seemed a little down back there with the children. Does something hurt to you? It's your tummy, maybe?" said the pastry knight, playfully

The king giggled. "No, CB" replied the girl with a smile, "I'm just… tired. I need to take a little rest"

"Very well, your highness. I'll tell the castle crew to prepare your room" said Cinnamon Bun before leaving her side to get rapidly to the castle.

"_If something hurts me, I don't think it would be my tummy_" she thought, putting her right hand in the lower part of her chest, remembering, but also deciding to ignore, the needling pain she felt three days ago in the same area, "_Some rest should do_".

* * *

Cinnamon Bun entered in the ruler's chambers without hesitation. No matter they were a forbidden area even for him, the groans of pain and the sonorous struggle in which the young king was shouldn't be ignored.

She was writhing in her bead and occasionally, when she wasn't clenching her teeth like wanting to break them, her mouth let escape screams of pain; but still, they weren't long. Even in that condition, she didn't want to look weak.

"Princess! Princess! What is it? What do you feel?"

"My... my chest... it hurts" she moaned between heavy breathings.

"Hurry! We need a doctor in the royal chambers! Now!" yelled CB on the phone to the castle crew.

Within seconds, a group of three fire elementals attended to the room. Everyone of them carried a black small bag. One of them checked with her hand the ruler's temperature, who was calmer than before.

"She's too much over the normal" said the nurse.

Other one of them checked her heart beats.

"Erratic beats. I can't catch a balance in the rhythm" said the young boy with the stethoscope.

"Her skin is getting redder" said who seemed to be the head of the group, "We need to take her to the hospital right now!" commanded her.

In the most deep of the secrets, they and Cinnamon Bun took the king to a secret room in the subterranean levels of the castle; a special room made exclusively for emergencies like those.

She was moaning, fighting for breath. The pain in her chest was now just a numb sensation; it felt like her heart wasn't beating at all. She took CB hands and the knight could see the terror in her eyes. She felt like taking a seat in the Death Bus and she didn't want to. There was still lot of things she needed to do. A thing she wanted to do.

In the medical room, FP's skin began to change it's colors. From a grayish orange to a very lit up red. After that, her breath got it's normality and her heart was beating as usual, as everyone in the room could see in the cardiac monitor. Flame Princess fell in unconsciousness, but she was stable again.

"What happened?" asked the nurse.

"I... couldn't say" responded the leader doctor, "I had never seen a fire elemental being that sick"

"Could you find out what it was? It certainly will be a second seizure" said Cinnamon Bun.

"I'm afraid... we can't. We had not seen anything like this before. I'm sure there's nothing in medical books about it; and I have read them all. Besides, we don't have the technology to investigate"

"I know who has it" said Cinnamon Bun.

* * *

"Finn, you shouldn't come with me to this"

"Why not? Is my duty as champion of the Candy Kingdom"

Both Princess Bubblegum and Finn were walking towards the Fire Kingdom, near the border between this and the Grasslands.

Early in the morning, Bonnibel received a phone call from her former citizen Cinnamon Bun informing her about the health problems of the Flame King. She couldn't deny the excitement that filled her scientific curiosity. She would be allowed to analyze a fire elemental! Due to the pride of that people, she would be the first no-fire-person to do it. In the other hand, Finn had no idea of why they were going to the fiery domains. He just assumed it was a diplomatic issue.

"Are you sure you come for that and only for that?"

"Yes. Why would I come if it's not for that?" asked Finn with a grin.

"Well, I dunno. Maybe to try a move on FP?" asked PB, sarcastically.

"Oh, boy! Can you, please, not say things like that?" he complained.

"Sure! If you don't do things like that"

"I'm maturer. I'm over her, I swear"

"Let's see it, then. Here we are"

Just in that moment, the young hero realized they were just in front of the entrance to the castle of the Fire Kingdom. He felt the air in his lungs escaping and he tried to get it back with deep breaths from his mouth. His heart was beating like it used to do in bittersweet memories from six years ago. His poker face fell just in an instant and his eyes were lost into infinity.

Bonnibel had seen that gaze in him many times before. She knew that was the look he had when he gazed at the sunset, with obvious thoughts about certain girl. She felt some pity for him, but she also felt the necessity to help Finn to control his emotions or her golden opportunity could fly away like a butterfly scared of a predator.

"Finn, snap it out!"

"Wha... what? What happened?"

"Stay behind me and don't tell a word at least Flame Princess or I tell you to do so. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, I do" he said, still overwhelmed.

Princess and hero entered in the big castle made out of volcanic rock; even when they were wearing their especial outfits, they could still feel some of the heat coming from the ground caused by the lava rivers running under the castle and practically the whole kingdom. No one was there to receive them, the place was empty. They both began to think they arrived early or late; or that it was a joke all along. After some uncomfortable seconds of silence and insecurity, Cinnamon Bun appeared from the left wing of the hall.

"Welcome, Princess Bubblegum... and Finn", he said, confused by the presence of the human. "Come with me, please".

Finn and Bubblegum followed Cinnamon Bun into the left wing of the castle, from where he had came. They walked by a corridor with walls filled of portraits of old and important fire people, all of them with rough and angry faces although some of them had smiles... creepy smiles. The walk was silent and Finn always kept himself behind Bubblegum, as she commanded before. But, at some point, he saw something.

Feet ahead, there was Flame Princess. She was being transported in a wheel chair by a fire nurse to another room in the same corridor; she was wearing the dress she used under her armor. The human left his emotions take over him and he ran towards the young king even when Princess Bubblegum yelled at him.

"Flame Princess!" he yelled, just at some inches from her. And then he stopped.

He saw her. He saw her expression. She was confused, surprised. Finn felt how those amber eyes lay on him with a big weight. He saw something more in her eyes. ¿Anger? ¿Sadness? It was almost a heartbroken expression.

"Finn?" she whispered and left the wheel chair, putting her feet in the ground. She approached to him. "Why? Why after so many years? You just came to tell me about your arm and then... nothing..." **(*)**

"I- I thought..." the words were in his brain, but they got stuck in his throat; he stopped feeling his heart, he stopped feeling everything. Any corporal sensation was gone. "I thought you hated me" he finally said.

"Hate you?" she asked, almost offended, "How could you think I would hate you?" she asked with a frown.

"Because I was really really dumb back then, ok?" he said, "I acted like a clown. You needed me when your father tried to take over you and the only thing I did was to fool around and trying moves on you. And that's why I didn't come to be with you in these six years. I didn't want to force you too look my stupid face again", his words came out as he was looking away, to the walls, caressing his left arm with his right hand, ashamed.

Flame King's features softened. She remembered that day and, of course, she remembered what Finn was talking about. The memories weren't pleasant, but the fact that he was apologizing for those actions made her appreciate the human boy a little bit more.

She put her hands in Finn's shoulders, prompting him to look directly at her eyes. Now her face had a smile and her eyes brighted differently.

"I missed you, fool", she said in a friendly way.

"I thought... you didn't want to see me ever again"

"My Glob! What did yo do to the Finn I knew? He'd know I would never keep such feelings towards him"

Finn giggled. "Yeh... I've been missing you too" he responded with a smile.

The Flame King took his left hand between hers. "I want to see you more often here in the future. I really need a friend to hangout and take a break from all this royal stuff"

In the back of the that scene, Cinnamon Bun's features cringed in worry. After so many years at her side, she recognized every single tone in her voice, every single non-spoken feeling reflected in her face. He could see her hope speaking. The hope of recovering a life for her and only for her, without chains. But, would she make it? Would she overcome her current state? That was what made Cinnamon Bun feel a black hole in his chest.

"Okay, it's time to check on you, Flame Princess" said Bubblegum, approaching to the youth. Her voice was enough to annoy and make the King uncomfortable. She didn't want or ask for help from the sugary princess; but Cinnamon insisted that she was her only chance to know what was happening with her.

"Ugh... Fine" she muttered, giving up her pride.

Both the princess and the king entered in a room where other fire doctors were awaiting for them.

"Wait, what? What's happening? FP? Are you okay?". Finn tried to enter with them but was stopped by Bubblegum.

"You must wait out here, okay? Don't fool around or make a mess or..."

"I'm not a child anymore, Peebles" he complained.

"Then I don't need to repeat it to you. I can't believe I'm doing this but... Cinnamon Bun, keep an eye on him, would you?"

"Sure. But I think that won't be necessary. Will it, Finn?"

"No" he said.

"Good. See you... maybe in a few hours" she said before closing the door just in front of Finn.

The human sighed and walked towards Cinnamon Bun.

"What is this all about, CB?"

"You shouldn't be here" the knight responded.

"Wha...? What are you talking about?"

"I only called the princess. You weren't called and I honestly don't know why are you here" said Cinnamon Bun, prompting a hatred feeling from the human towards him, "But if you wanna know... I... I couldn't respond to that. That's why I called her. Only she has the intelligence and the material to find out what's wrong within her. Sorry Finn, I don't know what is happening with her"

Finn's face softened it features. Worry took over him and he glanced at the door of the room, where the future of the princess was uncertain.

"Does she talks about me?" Finn asked, but several seconds passed and he didn't receive any response, "Cinnamon Bun?". When the human turned around, he just saw the King's knight making his way away from him.

* * *

The princess carried with her a small bag which contained several metallic capsules. When a button in one of their extremes was touched, the princess threw the capsule at some place of the room and then, after a sudden non-harmful explosion, appeared different components of her laboratory. Bubblegum, with her fireproof suit, proceeded with the examination.

The princess was excited like she never was before. Taking blood samples from her, checking her heartbeats in a machine, even checking her temperature was something new for her and for everyone foreign to the Fire Kingdom. However, she was still a scientist and she was working trying to find the illness of the fiery ruler; so, she was working as best as she could, writing any useful fact in her notebook and making a connection out of all.

More than an hour passed.

"Are we done yet?" asked Flame Princess, annoyed.

"The first part is done. There's only one more thing I need to check on you. I thought it wasn't going to be necessary but..."

"What is it?"

"Your power"

Princess Bubblegum put several fire proof sensors in every crucial part of the king's body (at least that was what she said) and made her enter in a small room adjacent to the nursery.

"The walls should resist the heat I need you to liberate" said Princess Bubblegum trough a glass, "When I tell you, expel as much power as you can. My computer will record its level and, luckily, will help us to find out what is happening with you. Ok?". Flame Princess just nodded. "Now!".

Almost immediately, Bubblegum's lectures went crazy. Flame Princess's power seemed to be liberated with all its might at the beginning; it settled down latter and began to rise again after a few seconds. But the ruler didn't last much. Her power decreased after thirty seconds and it didn't rise again. Much worse, it was decreasing even more; a little, but still decreasing.

"It's enough. Come back here" said the candy ruler.

Flame Princess settled down her flames and went back to the nursery. She knew something went wrong in the middle of the test. She felt how her power decreased and even when she tried to expel more, it didn't respond. Her power abandoned her.

"What did you find? Something useful?" asked the Flame King.

"I think I did. But first I need to compare it with previous records"

"Previous?"

"Do you remember the time you and Finn kissed and almost destroyed the world?"

"Did you...? How?" asked Flame Princess with anger, but embarrassed by the violation to her privacy.

"I have any kind of sensors all over Ooo that record any useful information for the well being of the land. After that incident I checked the records and saved them for future applications... like this one" said Bubblegum proudly. "Ok, I have it. Whoa..."

"What does that 'whoa' means? Is something bad or something good?"

"I thought about this... but I didn't thought it would in fact happen"

"What? All I see in your screen are numbers and letters and strange shapes!" replied Flame Princess, not understanding the equations in the screen.

"Flame Princess... I think your heart is dying"

The sentence was like a rock tied up to her neck that dragged her down. The ground under her feet suddenly disappeared and her head spun around, making her lose the sense of equilibrium. Her dry throat requested hydration that came from the saliva in her dry mouth.

"Well... everybody's heart dies a little everyday..."

"Yes. But yours is dying faster than it should" Bubblegum said. "It's almost like the second law..." she mumbled to herself. "The state of equilibrium in which your heart was when Finn liberated you had a low level of entropy, mostly because your emotions were more open and you tended to expel them easily. But then, you passed to this state of equilibrium B and in every change of state the entropy of the system tends to increase. Besides, since your emotions aren't as expelled as before, that makes your heart some kind of isolated system, which only increases the entropy"

"What?" asked Flame Princess, confused.

"Entropy is the level of degradation of a system. In this case, your heart. When you passed from happy, passionate, carefree and in-love yourself to the serious, responsible and emotionally distant yourself..."

"I'm not emotionally distant!"

"...the degradation of your heart increased. Your emotions are not as expelled as before, which concentrates all the energy inside you, degrading it faster"

Flame Princess was speechless after that. She couldn't believe it. She was expecting some kind of weird disease that, although painful and dangerous, could be cured with medicine or some strange potion hid in a dungeon, protected by an evil master of dungeons. But reality was different and fear began to spread to her whole body. Her legs felt numb and cold while some heat concentrated in her head, shoulders and chest. She took sit in one of the chairs of the nursery and put her head between her hands.

"Is... Is there a way to stop this?" she asked.

"Maybe. If we could put you back in your previous state or something close... it could work. I don't really know, to be honest"

"And what you want me to do? Date Finn again?"

"Well, he's outside..."

Flame Princess sat up from her chair, walked towards Bubblegum and looked right at her face.

"What the bjork? Are you kidding me?" hissed the king.

"Look, I'm not telling you to date-date him again. But obviously he can trigger your emotions easily. In fact, he can do that with everyone..." said Bubblegum, smiling. "And you can trigger his emotions easily too. Just a simple play date to test my theory, just today"

Flame Princess sighed while she returned to her chair. She rested her chin in her hands and sighed again. She wasn't sure of doing what Bubblegum thought necessary. She was confused and overwhelmed for all the things that have happened in just a few minutes. Even a simple play date could be dangerous for certain reasons: she didn't want to give Finn false hopes. But it was the only way.

"Ok. But just a play date!" said Flame Princess.

"Didn't you want exactly that a few hours ago?"

"I did! But you made it weird! Geez..."

* * *

"Ow! This is tight!" complained Flame Princess

"This bracelet is going to send information about your vital signs to my computer while you are spending time with Finn. It will help to gather more information about your condition"

"I thought spending time with me will cure her" said Finn.

"Finn, can I talk to you for a moment?" she said, making a gesture with her hand, inviting the human to a distance in which the fiery ruler couldn't hear them.

"Hey! You are in my domains. No secrets"

"We are not hiding nothing from you, Flame King. It's just something between friends" said Bubblegum nonchalantly.

"What is it, P-bubs?"

"Finn, I already explained you. This is not a game! Stop being a child" she whispered.

"What? I'm not a child!"

"Then don't act like one! Being with you is not going to magically cure her. This is just a test. And we will see later if her time with you helped"

"I'm waiting" said Flame Princess.

"Ok. Go!"

"Go where?" asked Finn.

"Go frolic or something. Have fun and give me a lot of information to analyze, please" said Princess Bubblegum while she returned to the castle.

"Now what?" asked Flame Princess to Finn.

"Um... would you like to... go to a... dungeon?"

"Finn, this thing is supposed to make my emotions go like crazy. And you ask me if I want to go to a dungeon? The borest thing for me in the universe?" she said with her flames rising a little, showing her annoyance.

"Well... I was thinking I could let you be the leader and doing everything in the way you wanted"

Flame Princess's flames dance calmed and her features softened. She was surprised by Finn's proposition.

"Would... would you allow me? From the beginning?", a glimmer in her eyes.

"I can't lie in this kingdom, much less in front of its king" said Finn with a smile and offering his hand to the ruler, who took it, touched deeply by the human's allowance. Her flames grew just a little.

* * *

Somewhere in the Grasslands, the ground started getting hotter and hotter. The grass became black little by little and started bending. After a few seconds, a portion of the ground was sent into the skies along with the body of a blue ogre, engulfed in flames. From the hole made by the fire, came Flame Princess, floating; and Finn the Human followed her, crawling in the dirt.

"That will teach you to not call me little princess in a disrespectful way! I could be a princess but I'm not your princess!" shouted Flame Princess at the still flying ogre.

"FP, that was sick! That was awesome! That was sickawesome!" exclaimed Finn.

"You could have seen more of that if you had let me be the leader more often" said Flame Princess with a smile, putting her feet on the ground. "Oh boy! Dusk is falling, it's getting late. We should return to..."

"Finn, Flame Princess" said Bubblegum's voice from the FP's bracelet, "I've gathered enough information. You can return to the Fire Kingdom"

"Well, I said it first" said Flame Princess, deciding not to reply.

While the human and the fiery ruler were returning to the Fire Kingdom, the princess couldn't hide her excitement and the whole walk back became a remembrance of what was made some hours before.

"Did you see how I sent that ogre flying?"

"Yes, it was just some minutes before"

"And how I resolved that puzzle that opened that door?"

"We couldn't go forward without that"

"And the room full sword fighters?"

"I helped a lot there"

"I didn't know you could cast a telekinetic arm! Oh! And remember when I saved you from that floor that went down?"

"Um... I... yes..."

Soon, even before the night came completely, the two young adults reached the gates of the Fire Kingdom castle, where Princess Bubblegum and Cinnamon Bun were waiting for them.

"I'm going to study the results of all the tests, Flame Princess. I hope I can come with a preliminary solution in a week"

"Thank you, Princess Bubblegum" she said with nothing but a royal courtesy. "Come to visit me more often, would you?" asked to Finn.

"Defs! I'll call you to see if you have time"

"Well, see you soon then" she said with a smile and then waved a goodbye when Finn retired at Bubblegum's side.

"CB, can you make changes in my schedule to see Finn once a week?" requested Flame Princess once inside the castle.

"I think I can" responded him but, deeply within him, he felt guilty of not communicate his worry and, maybe, of giving her false hopes.

That night, Flame Princess went to to the bed with happiness filling her soul and a big grin in her face. However, the happiness didn't last much, for the next morning she had another seizure.

* * *

**(*):** Reference to my other story "Hopes". Go check it!

If you read so far to this, thank you very much. I hope you enjoyed and if you decide to follow this story, I will be even more thankful. If you decide to leave a review, there are no words to describe how much I appreciate it.

**Some notes: **That was my poor try in putting the 2nd law of termodynamics into the game; I'm not a physician but I tried to learn as much as I could before writing that part. Now, about the plot: This story and this episode were planned way before Breezy happened, so this is like an AU in which the "last" canon" episode would be Sad Face.

Again, thank you for reading, tell me what you think of the story so far. Take care of your siblings. See you soon!


	2. I Am A Hero

His arm was gone. Definitely gone. Not even the little flower that born six years ago nor the grass that covered his stump.

Sad end. He fell on the ground with a mortal wound. He couldn't die, at least not like this. As the hero he was, he got himself in his knees and lifted up his head to see right into the eyes of his rival when the cold steel finished his life. What he saw was enough to kill him.

A warrior of dark-brown armor was holding the grass sword, engulfed in flames. Finn couldn't see the face of the warrior, just a shadow with long hair floating along the wind. The warrior lifted the sword, ready to finish the task.

"Wake up!"

* * *

"Wha...?"

"Finn, wake up! You are drooling in my shoulder!" complained Princess Bubblegum.

There was no way Bubblegum could escape from that gross experience since the both of them were traveling in The Morrow towards the Fire Kingdom.

"Uh... I'm sorry Peebles" said Finn with a sleepy voice and a yawn, "I didn't sleep too well last night. I... keep having weird dreams..."

"The warrior ones?"

"Yes. Do you think that I'm dreaming this so often could mean something?"

"Well, ancient scientists and psychologists tried to find out a way to interpret dreams, like messages from our subconscious. But I find their methods very questionable. But... has the Cosmic Owl appeared on them?" she asked.

"Nope. They just... happen, like any other dream. Just that I have dreamed that for two weeks now"

"Then I don't think you need to worry about it. Or at least that's what people says... Look we are almost there" she said, pointing at the entrance of the subterranean kingdom where seconds later landed The Morrow.

They put on their fireproof suits and entered in the Fire Kingdom.

When they arrived to the castle, they were received once more by Flame King's knight, Cinnamon Bun. They were escorted by the knight through several halls until they arrived to a chamber where the Flame King was laying in a stone bed while an old fire woman was practicing some kind of ritual on her, expelling incense and making strange chants.

"Why is that woman here? What is she doing?" asked Princess Bubblegum, infuriated. "That kind of practices could make her health worse than it is already. They don't follow a method, they don't do empiric observations. I thought..."

"Princess, while you are in this kingdom you must respect its rules and traditions" replied Cinnamon Bun. "Flame Princess's brother found out about her condition during the breakfast and demanded she was taken here, with the witch Kala. She has treated the Royal Family in their worst diseases since centuries ago. You will respect that while you are here. Besides, I don't think you want to begin an incident that could lead to war, do you?"

The princess gave a death stare at Cinnamon Bun, both surprised and even more infuriated, mainly because he was right in his late statement. She didn't said anything.

"_Pieces are moving..._" mumbled the old woman to herself, "Please, everybody in this room need to gather around me. I have something important to tell you about the little Ailen..."

"Ailen? Is she called...?" asked Finn.

"That's how the witch calls her since she was a baby. I don't know if it's her real name, but she always smiles when she hears Kala calling her like that" said Cinnamon Bun while he, Finn, Princess Bubblegum and Flame Princess's brother approached to the old woman.

"So what? Are you going to tell us how to _magically cure her_? How to _summon the spirits_ that are gonna clean her _vital essence_?" asked Bubblegum sarcastically to Kala.

"I've seen people like you" said Kala. "Data sorcerers. Too much brain. You seem to ignore the fact that the heart is the one who keeps the mind alive. And after all, is her heart what is in danger here and now" she said, calmly

"My data can save her life! My data can do something about it! Your beliefs can't help her. They have no foundation!"

"Then I think you have come here with the solution, don't you?"

"I have _a theory_" Bubblegum stressed, "And that's more than you could ever get"

"Mind to share it?"

"Of course! Flame Princess? Can you come here? I have a theory about your sickness"

"It better be the right one or I swear I will caramelize you with my own fire" said the fiery girl, approaching to the group of people.

"It's simple. You need a heart transplant. You only need a young donor that have died recently and bingo! No more problems"

"That's impossible" replied Flame Princess's brother, "Our laws strictly forbid to use someone else's organs. Individuality cannot be violated. You took what life gives you, like it or not"

"Bull gunk!" yelled Princess Bubblegum, "You people can't be so dogmatic!"

"Princess, I told you to respect the laws and traditions of this kingdom while you are in it" said Cinnamon Bun.

"Well, darling, it seems like your theory is not going to help as you thought. I'm sorry" said Kala, nonchalantly, "Besides, she can't get any heart in this kingdom or any other. Little Ailen's heart is unique, something even I haven't seen, just heard. The only way to save her is going to the Behram Temple"

"The Behram Temple?" asked Flame Princess's brother, surprised, "I thought it was just a legend"

"Fantastic! More magic!" exclaimed Bubblegum.

"Wait, what is the Behram Temple?" asked Flame Princess.

"How? You don't know about it?" inquired Kala

"Mom... mom never got to tell her the story" replied FP's brother.

Kala sighed. "Sometimes I forget how deprived your childhood was, my little girl" she said, saddened for those same memories that the young king preferred to not bring back. Both of them shared furtive tears in their eyes.

"Many centuries ago..." began the priestess, "...existed the first generation of fire elementals. They were the most powerful fire elementals that ever existed. They were kind and lovable people. When the first of them died, they emigrated from their original place to here. But first, they created the temple, in honor to that first member of such a powerful race. In the Behram Temple you can find the purest fire that have ever existed, the fire of our older ancestors: the Roaz family. It has the physical form of our hearts. Some say the Roaz blood remains in some inhabitants of this kingdom, but nobody is sure"

"Wait!" said Bubblegum, "So, there's a heart in this temple? A real elemental matrix? And we can transplant it to her?"

"Whatever you want to call it. Yes, there is"

"Awesome! For once your kind of people are useful. Where's this temple?"

"Nobody knows" said Flame Princess's brother, "By the time we find it... it could be too late" he said.

Flame Princess put her hands on her chest, feeling how all her hope was going away in little pieces.

"I know where it is"

Everyone in the room stared at Cinnamon Bun.

"You... how?" asked Flame Princess

"I investigated. When I arrived here, I tried to learn everything I could about this kingdom and its culture. I went to the Royal Library and, reading some books, I could determine where the Behram Temple could exactly be"

Flame Princess ran to her friend and gave him a tight hug. "You've saved me, Cinnamon Bun"

"Not yet, my princess. There's still a lot of things to do" he said tenderly, and then separated from her. "According to what I could find, the road to the temple is full of dangers. Only the bravest warriors can get to there. Only a fearless heart can defy and overcome the tramps and dangers of that place"

"Then I should go" said Finn with a serious expression. Everyone stared at him, just like they stared before at Cinnamon Bun. "I'm a hero. I'm the bravest hero here. I've defeated the most deadly foes in these lands. There's nothing that can stop me". Finn walked towards Flame Princess and took her hands. "Much less if that saves your life" he said, looking at her eyes. The king was totally surprised by his determination.

"That's just what I wanted you to say, Finn" said Cinnamon Bun, putting his hand in the human's shoulder and Finn smiled. "We sail today before dusk. Get ready" and the knight left.

"You two are the best persons I could ever met. I couldn't have better friends than you" said Flame Princess, before hugging both CB and Finn.

Finn's smile faded away.

* * *

"Why? Why always him? Why has he to put himself between me and her? I'm sick of him!" muttered Finn, walking alone by one of the corridors of the castle. "This is my opportunity. This is the chance I've been waiting for years. And he has to ruin it! Again! I swear I wouldn't mind to..."

He felt something powerful growing inside of him, but it was wrong. He then looked at his arm, his right arm telekinetic arm, going through his fireproof suit but without damaging it. It appeared and it had big thorns coming out of it. He was scared of his own thoughts; those that leaded his arm to appear in such a way. He calmed himself, managing to make disappear his arm some seconds later.

The human sat on the ground and leaned against the wall; he closed his eyes and tried to ignore every thought he had in his mind at that time.

"Is it hard, isn't it? The struggle of fighting yourself"

Finn opened his eyes when he heard that voice and saw the old priestess in front of him.

"Mistress Kala" he exclaimed and got up on his feet, "Why you say that?"

"I've lived too many years. I know exactly how does it look when your own demons try to kill your reason and use your skin as their disguise. Tell me, young man, what is bothering you?"

"Bothering me? Nothing!" he responded, stoically, "Nothing can hurt me. I'm a hero. I'm tough. I am... I am..." he began to stutter when Kala, smiling, was giving him a stare of 'I don't believe you'.

"I am..." he sighed, defeated. "I'm not sure if I can do this, ok? I waited so long for a chance like this and now... I don't know if I have what is needed to accomplish this mission. I've been acting like a big poo brain and I can't stop it. Save her life. Can I do it?"

"You shouldn't ask me if you can do it, young man. You should ask to yourself: why not could I do it? When you have the response for that, you will able do anything. Tell me: are you going to save my little Ailen?"

Finn looked at her, perplexed, overwhelmed by the confidence she was putting on him with her smile. But he was determined, he said it before and he meant it. "Yes, mistress Kala. I'm going to save her"

"In that case..." Kala took out some sparkly dust from one of the bags she was carrying around with herself and blow it from her hand to Finn, making him cough, "...my blessings for you, young knight" and she went away.

Finn took out his phone from his back pack and called Jake.

"Jake? Are you in the tree house? I need you to bring me my adventure pack to the Fire Kingdom. Yes, the Fire Kingdom. I got another... I think I got another chance with her"

* * *

**(The night before, far away from the Fire Kingdom)**

"What do you mean she's not in jail? And what do you mean she's lost?" yelled the king.

"We... I... I don't know what to say, your Majesty. We were on our duty when, suddenly, we felt sleepy and nobody of us could resist it. By the time we woke up, she was not there"

"Do you understand the dangerous situation we are facing right now?" inquired the King, "She's out there! She could be doing anything! Glob forbid she finds the..."

A thunderous explosion cut his words. Two walls and half of the roof of the office were destroyed. The king flew away, fell on his side and crawled to the wall, breathing heavily. Between the fog of the destruction and the fire, he could see a familiar shape approaching to him.

"Hello, father. Did you miss me?"

"No... Please, darling, don't do it"

"I've waited too many years to claim what is mine by right!" she yelled, "And if I can't do it by the law, I'll do it by the arms"

In that moment, a dozen of armed men entered in the room, surrounding the women there, who seemed to be the leader. "Arrest him"

Two of the men took the king in custody and lifted him from the ground. The leader of the armed men approached to him.

"Tell me where is she and you won't suffer... too much"

The king didn't spoke, but his stare screamed delusion disguised as anger.

"I'm so sorry, father" she said, taking his crown and throwing it away by the giant hole in the wall. "Take him to the prison. Now, nobody can stop the rise of my empire. The Slime Empire"

"Your Majesty" said a soldier, approaching to the new ruler, "Our men and tanks are ready. Where are we going to strike first?"

"Let's hurt some prides" she said with a smile. "We march to the Candy Kingdom in a few hours"

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who left a review in the first chapter. This one is way shorter than I wanted it to be but I think it works. The next one is somewhat short too but I expect the fourth to be at least 3k words.**

**Again, thank you for reading. Leave a review, give follow if you want to know how this evolves before anyone else, tell your friends about this story. Eat good, eat healthy. See you!**


	3. War

"Whoa, wait! You can't... We can't do that! I'm really sorry, but in situations like these there's nothing the Candy Kingdom can do about it"

"Please! I just need to hide from her"

"You are not hiding if she knows where you are. And if she knows, that represents a serious threat to this kingdom"

"Root Beer Guy, I beg you! I'm in despair! Look into your heart!"

"I'm sorry, Slime Princess. I normally would, but the safety and well being of the whole kingdom is my responsibility. If I give you refuge, I'm risking the lives of all the candy citizens"

"That's Bubblegum's policy, and she's not here at the moment. Just, for a second, what if you use that power and... take some liberties" said Slime Princess, almost seductively.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm a married man. Besides, I can't break the laws of my ruler. She lend a big responsibility on me and I swear to Grod I won't let her down"

In that exact moment, a big explosion could be heard and felt in the office where Root Beer Guy and Slime Princess were. The leader of the Banana Guards even fell from his chair and, once he was in his feet again, he picked up the interphone. "What was that?" he screamed through the phone.

Between the chaotic screams and gibberish from the Banana Guards, he could recognize two words: "Tanks! Army!"

"My Glob! She's here! She's here!" said Slime Princess, terrified.

"I suppose I can't give you refuge anymore" said Root Beer Guy, going out from the office.

"Where are you going?" yelled the princess.

"My kingdom is under attack. I have to watch our condition. I suggest you to hide with LSP" he said before starting to run into the corridor.

"Oh no! I prefer staying with you than going with her!" she said and went after RBG.

Once in the kingdom's defensive walls, after running through several scared Banana Guards, Root Beer Guy was able to see what was happening. The north wall had been damaged, but not destroyed. Dozens of tanks were surrounding the kingdom, along with hundreds of units of slime soldiers. At the center of all the units, facing the main entrance of the kingdom, was a tank bigger than the other, in which Blargetha was standing on.

"I demand to see Princess Bubblegum, ruler of this kingdom, to arrange the terms of her rendition and occupy this land in the name of the Slime Empire. You have one hour. Otherwise, we will open fire" said Blargetha through a megaphone.

Root Beer Guy took a megaphone from a Banana Guard to reply.

"I will tell Princess Bubblegum. We will consider you offer" he said, calmly.

"But Bubblegum is not here! What are you going to do?" said Slime Princess.

"Thank Glob they gave us time. Banana Guards! Give the order for every citizen to evacuate the kingdom. Amber code. Everyone must leave. Lead them to Finn and Jake's house, that's neutral territory" ordered Root Beer Guy and the guards left immediately.

"Can't you use the Gumball Guardians?"

"Use the Gumball Guardians before the hour ends would be a war declaration. I'm not going to start a war. Besides, with those tanks would be really easy to put them down in no time and citizens could get harm in collateral damage"

After 45 minutes, the kingdom was totally deserted. The citizens were leaving from the south wall, where the invaders could not see their departure. Carrying their most important belongings, they were heading towards the tree house in the Grasslands.

"All the candy people is out from the kingdom. What are your orders now, chief?"

"Leave. Every Banana Guard must leave. Don't carry your weapons with you or the Grasslands will stop being neutral territory. You should leave too, Slime Princess"

"What? But... what is going to happen with you?"

"Don't worry. It's my duty to defend this kingdom or die trying. Go! Now!"

"Good luck" said Slime Princess before leaving with the confused Banana Guards.

"Even those thanks are so much for you" said Root Beer Guy.

"I know. And I don't like that" replied a robotic voice. "Do you have a plan?"

"Kinda. It's complicated and it takes a lot of time. But if it works, we will save the kingdom and maybe all Ooo"

* * *

"Whoa... I... I don't even know what to say, man!" said Jake.

"I know. I couldn't believe at first too. It was... terrible to hear such things" replied Finn, "But, if there's a chance to save her, of course I'm gonna try it"

"And you do good, Finn. It's amazing you are doing this. I gotta say I'm proud of you, bro!"

"Thanks, Jake. But I'm still mad Cinnamon Bun is coming. I think he's gonna try to steal all the credit to gain points with FP"

"Oh my Glob... Finn!" exclaimed Jake.

"I can't believe it too" said Finn, totally misinterpreting her brothers expression, "He's just going to lead me there but it seems he wants more. I've never trusted on him since he become... well, more clever"

"Finn!" called Cinamon Bun from the ship, "Get ready. We are leaving in 5 minutes"

Princess Bubblegum, Flame Princess and her brother, Cinamon Bun, Finn, Jake and Kala were in the docks of the Fire Kingdom, in the only part of its territory that had contact with the sea. It was a small and untidy, as the only ship that was there, given that the fire army wasn't used to use the sea as a battle field or even as a merchant territory. However, the ship was prepared as best as possible to serve into the important adventure that was about to begin.

Cinnamon Bun was still carrying things into the ship when Finn arrived with a pair of bags, ready to aboard.

"Guys, I wanna give you something" said Flame Princess, calling the attention of Finn and CB.

She handed them a jar with a candle inside. Finn recognized it immediately. "This is one of my favorite candles. It helps me a lot when everything in the horizon looks hard. Its smell will calm you and help you to sleep. The flame... I turned it on myself with the best fire I could summon. It will never turn off. It will help you to... find the light when everything is dark, I suppose" she said and smiled innocently.

"Thank you, princess" said Finn and Cinnamon Bun at the same time.

"We are gonna keep it where we can see it at anytime" said the pastry knight.

"Now, this is important guys. I made as many research as I could. I already told Flame Princess. Her energy is degrading faster with each passing day. Right now, my calculations tell me she has... four weeks before her heart gives up. You have a big responsibility on your shoulders now" she said in all seriousness, "I don't need to tell you what will happen if you don't accomplish this mission. My blessings are with you".

Cinnamon Bun, Finn and a captain got into the ship, took away the boarding table and lifted up the anchors. The ship sailed while the people in the land waved them and hoped for the best.

"Finn!" yelled Princess Bubblegum, "Don't screw it up!"

Finn gave her a thumbs up and a smile.

"Do you believe we can do this?" asked Cinnamon Bun.

"Of course! One week to get there, one week to find the temple, kick some butts and get the heart... She's going to be better even a week before the time PB said"

"Is good to see so much optimism from you, Finn" replied Cinnamon Bun, "Let's see if you keep it when we arrived to the Hopeless Borderlands"

"What are you talking about?" said Finn, puzzled by his companion statement.

"They don't call them 'Hopeless' for nothing. I will explain you later. Right now, I could use some rest" he said with a yawn and headed towards the rooms.

Finn remained in the deck, watching the sunset. "Flame Princess..." he whispered, "I'm going to save you... and we will be together again"

* * *

**(Hours before. Candy Kingdom)**

The cannons were fired from the north wall and accomplished to destroy some tanks from the slime army.

"How many tanks we lost?" asked Blargetha.

"Just three!" replied one of her commanders.

"So this is the way you like it, eh Princess? Then I will be pleased to follow your game. Fire! Now!"

At the order, ten tanks in the front line fired against the North wall. Two, three, four times; with each round of projectiles, the wall was severely damaged. They didn't stop until a big part of the wall crumbled down, taking with it the main door.

"Ahead!" ordered the Slime Empress.

With no resistance, the army entered into the city just to find it empty and completely deserted. While Blargetha entered, she could see a blue uniform ripped into shreds between the candy rocks of the destroyed the wall.

"Your Majesty, the road to the castle is clear" said her commander.

"Carry me there, then!" she ordered.

A tank knocked down the door of the castle and hundreds of soldiers entered in it, again, without finding any resistance.

"Now, go find Bubblegum. Take her out from her hiding spot and bring her to me. I need to know where she hides her toys".

A couple of hours passed and Blargetha became impatient.

"Where the jam is she? She couldn't disappear from existence just like that!" she complained.

"Your majesty! We found something!" said a soldier, who came running.

"Did you find her?"

"I think you will like this better"

The empress, intrigued, followed the soldier for many levels under the ground, each one becoming colder and darker, until they finally arrived to a door protected by many other soldiers. They opened the door and the empress entered in the chamber. Her jaws dropped at the sight of what was there. Soon, her amazed expression turned into a smile and finally into a hysterical laughter.

"No body can stop me now! Not even those hot-air heads from the Fire Kingdom. I'm a godess of war! All Ooo is mine!"

Meanwhile, outside of the castle, there was a mount of rubble that used to be a tower of the castle and that was hit by a missing cannon shoot. But that wasn't any other tower, that was special. It used to be the battlefield of a war never seen, felt or heard; a battle out of the dimension inhabited by everyone else in Ooo; a battle that was destined to last eternally. However, the war was interrupted before the date it was expected to finish by another war. Slowly, a purple figure rose from the rocks and the dust.

* * *

"I know you don't want to be bossed by anyone, but I'll tell you still: Take care" said Bubblegum, with a serious expression, "Rest, don't try to move much. Don't use your powers, at all. If you can, low your flames as much as you can. Follow my recommendations and you may get some days more"

"And what if I don't follow them?" asked Flame Princess.

"Any sudden or powerful alteration of your system, aka your heart, could make the entropy much worse than it is now"

"Ow, ok" said Flame Princess, sitting in a chair.

"Don't worry, little Ailen. Your friends will bring the Roaz Flame in no time" said Kala, making the young ruler smile with hope.

"Your Majesty!" called a Fire Guard entering into the castle's room in where they were, "Someone demands to see the Candy Princess. They say it's very important, even for this kingdom"

Both rulers frowned in confusion and went to the main hall of the castle.

"Root Beer Guy! Rattleballs? What is it? What are you doing here? And why are you wearing only your A-shirt and not your uniform?"

"Princess Bubblegum... Flame King" said Root Beer Guy and he and Rattleballs leaned in presence of the king, "We bring... news"

"What kind of news?" asked Bubblegum.

"Not so good news" said Rattleballs.

"Be direct" demanded the Flame King.

"The Slime Kingdom..."

"Empire" interrupted Rattleballs.

"The Slime Empire attacked the Candy Kingdom"

"What?" yelled Bubblegum, "Slime Empire? Attack? Is this some kind of joke?"

"I'm afraid it's not. They attacked and invaded the kingdom in just a few hours"

"And what are the Banana Guards for?" exclaimed Bubblegum.

"I order them to leave, along with all the citizens. We had no chance to protect the kingdom and try it would result in mega death. They don't have a normal army. They have tanks and their troops are bigger in number than hours" explained Root Beer Guy.

"Tanks?" whispered Bubblegum, "Thanks? How dare the Slime King using tanks against me?" she yelled.

"It's not the Slime King, neither the Slime Princess. She came asking for refuge with me. It's her sister, the Empress Blargetha. And she's trying to conquer all Ooo"

"Well, Flame Princess, it was fun to be here but I have to come back to my kingdom and solve this..."

"You are not going anywhere?" replied the Flame King.

"What?"

"The Slime Army could have taken over your kingdom, but according to Ooo politics, they can't consider it conquered until you surrender or they kill you. If you go back, the worst option awaits for you. You'll remain here, we will protect you" said the fire ruler.

"No! You can't do this! If you do it, they'll come for me and..."

"They are coming here anyway. Your kingdom is the most important in this land. We can give us the privilege to lost it. The Fire Army can take care of those tanks with just some fire balls"

Bubblegum was impressed by how politic the young ruler was, when just minutes before she kept a cold attitude towards her. Maturity, that was what she saw in her eyes.

"Thank you, Flame King"

"There's something else you need to know, Princess" said Rattleballs, "I spied on them when they were inside the castle. I'm afraid the found the room of the Project Titan"

Bubblegum stumbled and almost fell to the ground if it wasn't for Kala who was behind her and catched her.

"Are you feeling bad? I can give you some herbal tea to calm your nerves" said the priestess with a mischievous smile.

"You and your tea get away from me" said Bubblegum, regaining her equilibrium, "And you two: Do you have any plan?"

"In fact, we do. We were thinking about applying a customized version of the Plan Valkyrie, your Majesty"

"The Valkyrie? Yes, good. Do it. The future of the Candy Kingdom and all Ooo is in your hands now" said Bubblegum before Rattleballs and Root Beer Guy left the Fire Kingdom.

"I hope your army is ready for a big invasion" said Bubblegum to the ruler of the Fire Kingdom.

"Don't worry. You are about to see the power of the fire elementals" replied the Flame King.

* * *

**A/N:** Again, thanks to everyone who has read this and MORE THANKS to those of you who leave a review. C'mon, don't be shy! Tell me what you think of the story so far. See you in the next chapter! Have a great day!


	4. What Is Needed

"Brother, you have the best unit. I want you and the unit 37 in the main entrance" said the Flame King, indicating the place in the map that was over the table.

"Don't worry, sister. My unit and I will die before letting you down"

"Try to not. This could not be the only battle against the slimes"

In the headquarters of the Fire Army, several people was running in different directions; others were waiting for instructions. It was something that hasn't been seen in decades. Sure the soldiers were somewhat rusty, but the emotion of the battle seemed to never grow old. As soon as they were called to duty, they didn't doubt and jumped up from their sits, ready to give their lives for their kingdom, for their king, fort their people.

"Is there something I can help with?" asked Princess Bubblegum

"Not now. But you are better at diplomacy than anyone here" replied the Flame King, "If they gave us that option you can talk with them and even resolve the situation about your kingdom. I prefer to crush them in the battlefield though"

"My darling, I beg you, don't go there" said Kala, entering in the war room.

"Mistress Kala! You shouldn't be here. Please, go take refuge" said the Flame King.

"I'll do if you come with me"

"I can't. I must protect my kingdom. It's my duty as its ruler"

"For once, I have to agree with Kala, Flame Princess. Your actual state serious. You help better standing behind and keeping yourself alive than risking your life at the dangers of the battlefield or your own sickness"

"Both ladies are right, sister. I'll command an entire unit to protect you" said her brother, the general.

"No. I'm not going to be the king that ran away when her kingdom was in need" stated the fiery ruler. "At least let me be in the tactical unit. I can't just wait here for my kingdom to fall" she begged to her brother.

"You are being stubborn and irrational. I'm glad to see you haven't changed that much" said the general with a smile.

"Wait, no!" yelled Kala and Bubblegum at the same time.

"I'm the general and I decide who can come to the battlefield and who can't"

"Is that the way you want it, Ailen?"

"I'm sorry, Mistress Kala. But I can't abandon my people just like that. I need to do this"

"But... your heart..."

"I'm strong, mistress. I can fight" said Flame Princess, flexing her arm and hitting her biceps. "I'm gonna be okay"

"If you are so determined, then there's nothing I can do about it" said Kala with a sad and defeated voice, "At least, drink this tea I prepared for you. It could help you to... last a little longer" said the priestess, handing a thermos to the ruler.

"Thank you, Kala. I will drink it" said Flame Princess and kissed the old woman in the forehead before she left.

* * *

After three days in the ocean, with nothing to do but watch the waves hit the ship and get some sun burns, Finn was obviously bored. He couldn't go in adventures, he couldn't play videogames and even even the hope to find a sea monster was fading away with each passing hour.

Cinnamon Bun seemed to have fun reading the dozens of books he brought with himself and meditating three times at day. That wasn't for Finn. He preferred the sensation of his lungs running out of air, his blood running like crazy in his veins and the adrenaline hitting his brain. With nothing more to do, the human approached to his companion in the other side of the deck.

"Hey, CB. You haven't told me about these Hopeless Borderlands. What is there? Why is it so dangerous?" asked Finn to Cinnamon Bun

"Oh, you are right" said Cinnamon Bun and took out a book titled Legends of the Ancient Fire from his bag and read it.

"It is said that the Hopeless Borderlands were once a big and fertile land, full of trees, grass and life. In this land, lived the first elementals and, among them, the Roaz family. For their power and kind hearts, they were considered the leaders of all the fire elementals. However, there was another family which dreamed with conquer distant lands and gather riches beyond imagination. Their greed emanated a black aura around them. They tried to snatch the power from the Roaz and a civil war started. The Roaz were way more powerful but the evilness of their enemies made them more clever. They poisoned some of the members of the Roaz, making their allies to lose faith. As a final strike, the evil families burned the land completely, they even burned the ground to make it impossible for something else to grow there. Then, they marched to the Behram Temple in an attempt to extinguish the sacred flame of the first elemental ever existed. But the remaining members of the Roaz family sacrificed themselves to summon a cast upon the temple and only those with pure fire from the Roaz family could enter. The evil families emigrated to their current location"

"Ooo, that is?"

"Exactly"

"Whoa..." exclaimed Finn after hearing the story, "But, there's one thing I don't understand. If the first elemental were so kind and the story is written, why did the Fire Kingdom insist in being evil?"

"That's because the story written here is not the same written in this other book" said Cinnamon Bun, taking out another book from his bag.

"History of the Fire Kingdom?"

"For first graders. This was the book used in the educational system before Flame Princess ruled. Listen to the origins of the fire elementals: 'Our kind descended from the skies, directly from the sun, upon this land, and made it ours'. There's no reference to the Hopeless Borderlands. I found this legend's book in the deepest part of the library, hidden. I don't think even Flame Princess knows about it. Maybe Kala, but FP not. Any mention to the Roaz family exists only in the legends"

"And what about the dangers there?"

"Well, first, the immense heat we will find there; and the fact there's no water. Secondly, something about poisonous unpredictable geysers. Then, all the tests and dangers into the Behram temple, of which no one has any information"

"Well, it sure sounds like an adventure. Just like a hero for me. You should stay in the ship, no body wants you to get hurt" said Finn

"You won't go alone, Finn. You need someone to lead you there"

"Just give me a map and I'll be fine"

"No, Finn. I have to go too"

"Oh, you would love it, don't you?" reclaimed Finn, "You would love to return to the Fire Kingdom and be the hero who found the way to save her, survived the desert and saved her, don't you? Listen to me! She's not for y...!"

"You listen to me, kid!" yelled Cinnamon Bun, interrupting Finn and making him feel intimidated and even a little scared. "I surely could go there by myself. I could survive the desert and find the temple just by myself. But after there, I'm useless! Only you have what is needed to accomplish this mission!"

"What are you talking about?" said Finn, quite confused.

"You'll know" was the last thing Cinnamon Bun said before he returned to his room.

* * *

"Your Majesty, General" said a panting soldier entering in the war room, "They are coming. They are about 4 miles away from here"

"Prepare the troops. Sound the alert. Tell everyone to take their positions. Are all the civilians in the refuges?"

"Yes, your Majesty"

Flame Princess, her brother and Princess Bubblegum came out of the tent they were. In front of them, the troops were preparing for the battle, taking their arms and forming lines. Then, the Flame King gave a step to the front and started talking to the troops.

"Today we face a menace we haven't seen in decades. I know you haven't fought in that same amount of time but I completely trust on you. You have proved to my father your strength, your bravery and your fierce. I'm not asking you to prove that to me. I know some of you prefer my father rather than me to be your ruler. I'm asking you to fight _by my side_ to protect our kingdom, to protect our people. Help me to keep them safe, to assure them a good life, to keep their dreams alive. To keep _your dreams_ alive. The Fire Kingdom will not fall! The Fire Kingdom will not be under the power of tyrants, not anymore!" she roared.

The troops roared back and lifted up their arms in response

"Time to go sister. There's people waiting for you in the tactical tent, in the foot of the mountain. You'll have a good sight from there" said the fire general.

Bubblegum and Flame Princess then headed to the tent from where they would see the battle. When the both of them arrived to the tactical tent, Bubblegum took the right arm of the king and, without saying anything, put a bracelet on her wrist.

"Ow! Why that bracelet again?" asked Flame Princess, cringing and caressing her wrist.

"To tell me if something bad happens with your heart. Now, more than ever, we have to keep an eye on that"

"So, how much time do I have?"

"Well, the monitor in the bracelet says... impossible..."

"What is it? Is it bad?"

"According to this, you have a little more time than what I had calculated for you to have today" said Princess Bubblegum, unable to believe what she was watching.

"Well, I drank the tea Kala gave me"

"Oh, don't be so childish. Even when I don't like to admit it, it's more possible that I made a mistake in my calculations"

"Either way, I love to see you are not so right after all" said Flame Princess with a smirk.

Bubblegum grumbled, but decided to shrug it away and focus on the incoming battle.

"I still don't understand. Why they waited three whole days to attack?" said Bubblegum.

But then, from the territory where the tent was installed, she saw them. At least a dozen of robots of 13 feet tall each one. They were in the rearguard of the rest of the troops. In the exact middle, one of them was totally painted in green and back. Riding it, was the Empress Blargetha.

"What the bjork are those?" asked Flame Princess, surprised.

"The Project Titan" whispered Bubblegum, "That's why they took so long to come. They were figuring out how they work"

"Well, it's our time to figure out how they are destroyed. Prepare the catapults. We are gonna have some heavy guests in their rearguard" ordered Flame Princess with her ratio.

"You listened to the king" said the army general in the battlefield, "I want the catapults to focus only in those... things, whatever they are. We can take care of the tanks. Wait for their first movement to attack"

After a few minutes, one of the tanks opened fire. The shoot hit in empty ground, near to Flame Princess' brother. He gazed furiously at the enemy troops and after a few seconds he gave the order.

"Charge!"

* * *

The sun was rising at the fourth day of travel. Finn woke up in his bed. The nightmare came back to him. He was totally convinced it has some meaning, deep meaning; that it meant something important about to happen in his life. Before, he tried to not give it so much importance. This time, however, it has been different. The Cosmic Owl was there this time.

He remembered the last time he saw the Cosmic Owl in his dreams. He misguided the messages from the divine entity and ended up losing the girl he loved. Looking at that past, he repeated to himself he didn't mean any harm, but accepted he acted like a fool and deserved what happened. Or was it a revenge from the divine bird for Prismo's death? He laughed at his own thoughts and got up from the bed.

Once in the deck of the ship, he noticed the captain wasn't there anymore. Instead, Cinnamon Bun was the one directing the ship.

"What happened with the captain?" asked Finn, approaching to the pastry knight.

"He didn't want to get close to the Hopeless Borderlands. He's somewhat superstitious. Right now, we are in a zone called the Solitude Sea. It is said that whoever navigates in this sea will carry one hundred years of misfortune for their families. He left before the sun rose. Go take a breakfast. We'll get there in a few hours"

As Cinnamon Bun said, before the noon, the shore of a desert appeared in front of their eyes. It was time. Before them, the dangerous and merciless land which kept Flame Princess's salvation in the deeps of its extension. Finn's heart began to pump in excitement. Adventure awaited for him. He thought of another chance hidden in those dunes.

The ship anchored in a messy and destroyed pier. Finn and Cinnamon Bun descended into the ground.

"Everything ready, Finn? All your things in your backpack?"

"Yes! Oh, wait. We forgot something!"

The human returned to the ship and brought with him the candle Flame Princess gave them before leaving. "Now we are ready" exclaimed Finn.

Cinnamon Bun nodded and the both of them started walking towards the unknown, towards the danger, towards the hope.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you again for still reading this and for your reviews. Thank you Striker, can't say, sun queen, LittleMonsterz, GoldTestament, Alejito480, 00SparkAchu00 and TheOneAndOnly1993. Thank you all! :D**

**Oh! And just to give a general idea, the Titan Robots look like those used in Avatar by the humans.**

**As always, I hope you enjoyed and that this story keeps being interesting for you. Tell your friends about the story and invite them to read it. See you soon!**


	5. Burden & Isolation

**A/N:** _Thank you very much! Thank you to everyone who have left a review. Especially to Holahello for their wonderful review. It made smile so big! And randomreader: I don't see the problem. This is the same timeline. This story takes place almost 6 years after the events in The Citadel, so the timeline is not messed up. If you want to explain yourself better, tell me in the reviews. _

_Another notes for the readers, in case you missed it: In this timeline, 'Breezy' never happened, so Finn still has a missing arm and his stump is covered in grass, not a flower._

_By the way, this is my last vacations week. My final year in college is about to begin. I'll try to publish as soon as I can. We are almost at the middle of this story (so soon? Yes. This is a smal story). Updates will be erratic but at least every month will have two updates._

_Too much talking! Let's go to the story!_

* * *

The battle lasted for almost a whole day. From the noon of one of them to the noon of the next one. The Fire Kingdom Army had no major problems with the tanks. Their own abilities and the catapults got rid of them easily. That didn't extent them from getting hurt and even lose soldiers. However, neither the Fire Army nor the Slime Army could make big advances in the battlefield.

The Titans robots remained in a hill in front of the Fire Kingdom.

"Your Majesty, we are stuck. Even with our tanks we cannot go further" said one of the Slime commanders.

"Then it's time to try these babies. Titans, move!" ordered Blargetha.

The giant robots started walking into the battlefield. They fired energy rays that made big explosions and created deep craters in the ground. Some fire soldiers started running away, scared of the power of the robots. The unlucky ones got punched and kicked by them and sent several feet up in the air.

"Bubblegum, watch that" said the Flame King from the tactical tent, pointing towards the Titans, "Now is a great time to tell us how to stop those sons of you"

"They can't be stopped. I created them to be unstoppable, specially from fire elementals"

"What are you talking about?" yelled Fire Princess' brother.

"Does that mean we are... defeated?" asked the Flame King.

"Well, I... I think so. There are more possibilities for that to happen than we defeating them"

"You! Always you!" yelled Flame Princess with anger, "You put me on that lantern! You are serving my kingdom in a silver plat! It is always you!"

"Flame Princess, your heart. Please, calm down" said Princess Bubblegum, trying to calm the young ruler to not risk her heart and to not be burned by her.

"Calm? How do you want me to be calm when my kingdom and my people are going to be oppressed again? What can you know of a life like that?". Her flames were growing and dancing around her body.

"Sister, she's right. You must calm to take care of your heart. Don't worry, this is not over. We are going to find a way to stop them. We never give up" said the general of the Fire Army.

The king calmed herself and settled her flames down. "Ok, brother. I'm not gonna give up"

"What we have to do now is leave, found another place to keep fighting. We are not safe here anymore"

The Flame King agreed with her brother and every fire leader plus Princess Bubblegum returned to the Castle.

"You should think in putting defensive walls around the kingdom" commented Bubblegum.

"One thing at time" replied Flame King in a hard way. Her hand was in her chest, which worried the princess of the Candy Kingdom.

In the battlefield, the retirement was announced and the Fire Army abandoned their places to retreat until the defensive lines in the border neighborhoods of the kingdom. With lances, crossbows and the fire in their fist, they were ready to defend their people or die trying.

Near the dusk, most of the defenses had fallen or abandoned their positions, fearing for their lives. Even when the will to protect their kingdom and people was strong, their desire to stay alive was stronger. Not too much time passed before the Slime troops were at the doors of the castle.

Blargheta entered into the castle ridding her Titan, accompanied by two more Titans at her sides.

"Flame King! Princess Bubblegum!" she called, "I know you are here. So, you better show up yourselves or these robotic babies are going to destroy every life in this kingdom"

Flame Princess felt how a needle went through her heart. This was not good. Not the threat that the empress just threw nor the sensation in her chest. Never before she felt the urge to kneel, punch the ground and let herself drown in a sea of lava tears. Her fists were clenched, just like her eyes. The knot in her throat was a painful scream about to come out. Everything was ready for her to fall apart.

She didn't. She breathed deep. She came out from her hiding spot and faced Blargetha in the main hall of the castle.

"Princess Bubblegum, I need you here. Now!" she said with a straight face.

The princess came out from the place she was hiding too and went to Flame King's side.

"We are willing to talk about a treaty that warranties the well being of the people in the Fire Kingdom as well as the people in the Candy Kingdom" said the fiery ruler.

"And what about the people in the other kingdoms I took over before coming here?" asked Blargetha.

"We are not interested. We just talk for our kingdoms" said Bubblegum.

"Good! I'll be pleased to make a treaty with both of you" said Blargetha, "But first, take them into the prison" she ordered to her soldiers.

"What? What does this mean?" yelled Bubblegum while the Titans surrounded her and the Flame King.

"I don't know. It was _her_ idea" said Blargetha, pointing to her left side, from where a purple silhouette came out from the shadows.

"Goliad?" asked Bubblegum in shock.

"This lady and I share an ideal, princess. An ideal that will lead us to a perfect and happy world. Pefect for everyone. There's only one way to assure the well being of the people and we both pursue it, princess. We will do what you could never do. And for that, we have to make sure you are not a burden in our plans" said the sphinx while slime soldiers took both Flame King and Princess Bubblegum away.

* * *

From a near hill, Rattleballs and Root Beer Guy were watching over the movements of the Slime Army in the Candy Kingdom. For days, they learned their schedules and prepared a plan. Their objective was to get into the underground levels of the castle, where they will find what they needed to put their customized Valkyrie plan in operation.

They decided to sneak in when it was dark.

"I'll distract them. I'll see you there" said Root Beer Guy

"Won't you get lost?"

"Don't worry. I know that castle like the palm of my hand. Maybe I'll be there before you" replied the captain, before running towards the kingdom.

"Hey! Slime dummies! I'm here!" yelled Root Beer Guy in front of the guards in the castle main entrance.

"Isn't that the Banana Guard Captain?" asked one of the slime guards, "Yes! He is! Get him!" he ordered.

Root Beer Guy ran away with half of the slime guards behind him, giving Rattleballs the chance to enter into the castle. The harder part was over. From there, it was easy for the secret protector of the kingdom to avoid guards inside the castle until he reached the underground chamber he was looking for.

Meanwhile, Root Beer Guy kept running with all the guards that watched over the outsides of the castle behind him. That was exactly what he wanted. He entered into a dark alley, fooling the slime guards and losing them.

"Bingo Bango" he whispered.

When he was about to leave the alley, a bright light descended upon him.

"There he is!" yelled a voice from a helicopter.

It was time to run again for Root Beer Guy. He went through streets and alleys when the helicopter began to shoot at him. The sound of the bullets passing behind him were terrifying and he couldn't do something else but keep running. At the end of a street, he saw the Candy Tavern. He jumped and dived into the window, breaking it; he rolled until he hit the bar.

He got up and went into the other side of the bar. He searched for the bottle of liquor with biggest amount of alcohol. Once he found it, he took a rag and put it into the bottle. With a lighter, he set the rag on fire. Root Beer Guy came out from the tavern and threw his improvised molotov against the helicopter, making it lose control and fall to the ground.

"Bingo Bango" he cheered himself again and then began to run again, until he reached one of the secret entrances to the castle that was protected by the slime guards without them even knowing they were doing so.

In the insides of the castle, Rattleballs was putting in a locker room two guards that were protecting the entrance to the underground levels and whom he just knocked over. He went into those levels, avoiding to be seen by the guards there, especially the guards in the entrance of the Titan Project Room.

Rattleballs finally got to his destination. He stood there, in front of the door, almost ceremoniously. His gaze fixed into the plaque on the door.

"Home, sweet home" he whispered before entering into the room of the Rattleballs Guardian Project.

Once there, he found Root Beer Guy playing with a Rubik Cube.

"I tell you, this thing is impossible" said Root Beer Guy from his chair.

Rattleballs approached to him, took the cube from his hands and resolved the cube with rapid movements that the captain wasn't able to see. "It's time to work" said the robot.

"Well, how are we gonna do that? All the archives of defensive projects that ended in failure... oh, I'm sorry"

"No problem" replied Rattleballs.

"As I was saying, all the archives of old defensive projects were destroyed. How are we going to bring them back?"

"Princess Bubblegum put a secret archive in our memories in case something happened to her and we had to protect the kingdom" said Rattleballs, "It was totally blocked for us until a sensor in her body told us she was dead. After we were destroyed, the archives and the sensor were destroyed too. After hundreds of years of meditation, I could go into my programming language and find the archive" he said as he began to enter codes in a computer.

The big machine behind them started to work. The sound of gears, metal and released steam filled the room.

"It's time for us to come back and protect our kingdom"

* * *

Flame Princess opened her eyes. It hadn't been a pleasant sleep; she still felt her eyes hot and heavy but she had to get up, even if she didn't want to. Something strange called her attention. She didn't remember her room to be so empty and small. Then, she remembered what had happened the night before. She and Princess Bubblegum were arrested and sent to cell in the prison of the Fire Kingdom.

"Back to the beginning" she said to herself.

At the other side of the room was Bubblegum, still wearing her fireproof suit. Flame Princess wondered in silence if it didn't bother her to not take a shower in five days, if she didn't miss her royal baths with water, bubbles and gum-like scents. The King surely missed that. Not exactly. Rather the sensation of relax in her free times, her baths in lava instead of a bathtub filled with water.

Meanwhile, the gummy princess was wondering about a way to escape from their cell. They could wait until Rattleballs came and liberated them, if she understood well Root Beer Guy and Rattleballs' plan. But until that happened, both rulers could been forced to make a treaty they should respect no matter what. Or something worse.

"Princess Bubblegum..." heard the ruler of the Candy Kingdom, making her turn to the other girl in the cell, "How you deal with something like this? I mean, you have more experience than me on situations like this. I don't know what to do right now. Can you... give me advice? My head is blocked"

Bubblegum sighed. "I'm sorry, Flame Princess, but I don't know what to do either. My kingdom has been in serious danger before but nothing like this. They were minor threats at the beginning of my kingdom. When they became more serious... Finn was already there. I owe that boy a lot"

"I see" said Flame Princess. "If he was here, do you think he would have any chance against them?"

"Of course not! Zero! Less than zero chances!" exclaimed Bubblegum, "But he's someone who likes to destroy what you expect from him"

"Yeah, tell me about it" said Flame Princess and sighed. "I wonder how's my people"

"Hey, don't worry. It will be bad for your heart" said Bubblegum, "Besides, I'm sure your people is okay. They won't dare to harm them if they are smart. They need them to be happy to avoid rebellions"

"Yeah, I suppose you are right. But... ow"

Flame Princess complained. She put her hand in her chest and then groaned. Her breath began to get heavier. Her legs started to feel weak so she sat on her bed.

"Let me see the bracelet" said Bubblegum, approaching to the young girl. She took her arm and read the information in the little bracelet monitor. "Auch mein glob..."

"What does that mean? Is it your science-y language?"

"You should have twenty-three days left. You only have eighteen now"

"How...? How did I lose five days of life in just one day?" asked Flame Princess, somewhat terrified by the revelation.

"The pressure of the war and the worry for your people were too much for your heart"

"And what did you want me to do? To not care about my people? To not worry if they are alive, if they need me, if their lives are going to be destroyed?" asked the king, offended. "I'm not you! I'm not a person without feelings, I care about people. Glob forbid me from becoming someone like you!"

"I also hope so" said Bubblegum, "I don't want anyone to become what I am. Not you, not Finn... not anyone" she said with in a low voice, almost imperceptible. "Now, calm down. You could make your days shorter than they already are" said the princess, returning to her bed.

Flame Princess was impressed. She would never expect something like that from the sugary princess. Maybe she cared about others. After all, she always thought on Finn's relationship with her as a deep and meaningful relationship, almost in the same way her relationship with Cinnamon Bun was.

"I'm sorry for that" apologized Flame Princess.

"I told you to don't worry. Your heart needs a rest" replied Princess Bubblegum with a smile, "Have faith. We are going to get out of this"

* * *

Finn woke up. The sun almost burned his eyelids when the sunshine hit his eyes. He came out from the tent he and Cinnamon Bun prepared. The fire they lighted the night before was still burning with a little flame. In every direction he looked, there was nothing but sand and even the sky above it seemed to be made of sand, in the horizon.

It was time. Cinnamon Bun was still sleeping. He knew now the direction that should be taken to get to the Behram Temple; his companion told him the night before, unaware of the young man's intentions. Finn planned everything in the night. He wouldn't let Cinnamon Bun to steal the glory, he wouldn't let die his chance to amend things with Flame Princess. He was going to save her and she was going to give him her heart.

He took his backpack, with Flame Princess candle still inside; some water bottles and food. He began to walk rapidly, not run. His experience with deserts was enough to know that was a very bad idea.

After a couple of hours going alone in the desert, avoiding mirages and dealing with the heat and weight of his desert clothes, he arrived to a place where there was no more sand. The ground was eroded. When he walked some feet ahead, the ground started to shake just under him. The ground then inflated just in front of him. Something bad was about to happen and he knew it.

The ground broke. From the hole, a big amount of steam was violently released into the air. It engulfed Finn immediately. Finn began to cough as he felt how his lungs were invaded by the poisonous gas that came out from the geyser. The steam around him was too thick to let him watch around. He felt weak as the poison was making effect on him. His knees kissed the ground while he asphyxiated.

His mind was blank. His eyes were closing. Before it was all darkness, he felt someone or something pulling him out of the mortal steam.


End file.
